Burger King Unfairly Portrayed

Letter to the editor

It seems that letter writer Joel Kent [Sept. 4, "Support Companies That Support U.S."] does not fully understand how corporate inversions work.

Corporations like Burger King that employ this strategy will continue to pay full U.S. taxes on all revenue earned in the U.S. So even after the inversion, Burger King will pay U.S. taxes on the money it makes when you buy a Whopper here in Connecticut.

The difference is that after the inversion, if Burger King sells a Whopper anywhere else in the world, it will pay taxes only to the country where it sells the Whopper. Under current U.S. tax law, U.S. corporations like Burger King must additionally pay U.S. taxes on the revenue they earn abroad.

The United States is the only advanced country in the world that taxes corporations on their worldwide income in this manner, and it often puts U.S. corporations at a disadvantage relative to their international competitors. It also incentivizes them to invest abroad rather than here in the U.S.

So let's not blame Burger King. The U.S. should align its tax code with the rest of the world.